Eclipse
by Iuvenalis
Summary: Kaoru leaves the City for a change and finds the country holds many surprises and perhaps the answer to her greatest needs...AU, KK, AM
1. Chapter 1

**Eclipse**

**Chapter 1: City to Country**

Kaoru was beginning to realise that no amount of cleverness or expertise could erase her lecherous boss from making sexual innuendos every time he was in her vicinity. Her resignation was swift, unexpected and as she hightailed out of there she realised that the people she worked with were shallow and petty. Who wanted to be in such a negative environment? It was about time she did this though, she thought as she looked at the beautiful country cottage set in the middle of, well no where in particular and that suited her brilliantly. No one bothers me, I don't bother anyone and life remains serene.

The whole concept of taking time off, going on a holiday or resting every now and then had never occurred to Kaoru. Brokering had drained her completely and now here she was in…what was it called again? Little Valley or something.

Sighing to herself Kaoru dragged her suitcase to the cottage door and into the main living room. Glancing around she found the interior was designed with modern touch. There were fresh flowers, in both the rooms in the cottage and upon further investigation she found an en-suite as well as air conditioning. Thank the lord for air conditioning, she thought, because if this weather became any hotter she would melt.

A quick glance into the fridge showed that the owner had left her some food for the next few days. Crouching in front of the fridge she couldn't resist having a little taste of the chicken pie, and damn was it good! Ah, she wished she could cook like this…

'_Kaoru what is this?' Muttered her father. _

_'Its an omelette you silly! Try it! It'll be great!' she replied brightly. _

_He eyed the charred remains on his plate uneasily, and asked __'If it's an omelette, then why is there an orange in it?'_

Well she couldn't help it the cook books pages had stuck together and instead of making an omelette, it was an hybrid choc-orange cake omelette. But her father had eaten it, and even said that he liked it. But the years had been hard on him and he wasn't around anymore to make her feel like his special little princess no matter how bad her culinary skills were. She really had to thank whoever left this meal.

Settling down for the night Kaoru wondered what kind of lady the owner was. Was she old or young? Did she have a big family? What was she like? Who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll pay her a visit she thought sleepily…

* * *

Kaoru was gripping the phone so tightly in her hand her knuckles had gone white. If the phone were alive it would most definitely be dead. Why in gods name was it plugged into the wall with the air of being workable when it so didn't work at all. _I am calm, I am Zen, I am completely free from negativity_ she thought, breathing in and out slowly. Her therapist had taught her this method of relaxation to calm her self in moments of great anger and right now she was really pissed off.

Upon hearing a sound she turned and found a man, a hands length taller than her with red hair, standing on the threshold of the living room. Dropping the phone and quickly grabbing the long sword like ornament hanging on the wall she dropped into a fighting stance.

'I don't who you think you are but this is private property! And I am really pissed off right now so if you don't have a good reason for being here and you value your good health, you'd best turn right around and walk out of here' she stated in her best i-am-really-pissed-off voice.

Upon hearing her little tirade, the man smiled slightly and looked her up and down. _Who the fuck does he think he is_? she thought.

'You must be Miss Kamiya Kaoru' he stated simply.

'Says who?' she replied quickly

'Well, that's the name of the person who has paid me rent for the next 3 months on this particular cottage. Or are you someone else?' he inquired politely. Unsure now, Kaoru lowered the sword thingy and looked at him properly this time. He was not much taller than her with long red hair tied up in a high ponytail. His eyes were the strangest violet blue colour it was truly mesmerising.

'Um, okay then, uh this is…really embarrassing…' glancing away she fiddled with the sword before stepping forward to offer an explanation for her strange behaviour.

'Its okay' the man said smiling 'Though if you really want to protect yourself you should really lock the front door' he stated winking at her. Taking the sword from her, he placed it back in its ornamental position and turned towards her.

'My name's Kenshin, and I'm the owner of this cottage. I just came over to make sure that you've settled in okay. Maybe show you around the valley…you know the main amenities etc etc. If you haven't got any plans that is.'

_Damn,_ thought Kenshin. Who knew his new tenant would be a beautiful, fiery tempered woman, who from her defensive stance, obviously practised sword fighting of some style. _Think man, what other things can she need your help for_? His brain was fuddled after he got a closer look. Her Long Black hair was in a ponytail, and her blue eyes which had flashed angrily at him were now reflecting acute embarrassment. Her skin was pearly pale and her rosy lips were perfect. Ah the gods were truly shining down on him today.

* * *

After his brief conversation with the tenant, also known as 'the most beautiful creature to ever grace the earth, or my rented cottage', Kenshin headed home to devise ways in which he could 'accidentally' meet his new tenant.

"I know how you can get with her!" exclaimed Sano

Looking over at his childhood friend, Kenshin raised his eyebrows questioningly. Any plan concocted by Sano was bound to be stupid, but it always made him laugh to hear them anyway. _Ah high brow plans INDEED._

"You could go over to her house and say that your house had burned down and that you needed to stay with her!" he said grinning so widely at his brilliant plan.

"Mmmm. And what would happen to my actual house which, hadn't really burnt down which is still standing here or the fire which no one has heard of in a town with a population of 300 where people live in each others pockets."

"Oh…I forgot about that" said Sano sheepishly running his hand through his hair. "Okay okay I got it! What about it if you say that the government will take away your children if you don't marry within 2 weeks, and so you want to marry her!"

"Soooo I want to marry her to save my non-existent children, from a government that doesn't really want them because they don't exist?"

"Geez Kenshin, I'm trying to help you here and you're making it really hard you know" said Sano with a hurt look on his face.

"I know you're trying to help, Sano, and I thank you for your support"

"damn straight"

* * *

I'm trying different themes people - tell me what you think ;-)

cheers,

Iuvenalis


	2. Chapter 2 Painting the Town Red

I Do not own Rurouni Kenshin ;-)

**Eclipse**

**Chapter 2 – Painting the Town Red** **or was it Blue?**

After her embarrassing situation that morning Kaoru felt like she had to accept Kenshins offer to show her around. Then again being shown around by a guy as gorgeous as him wouldn't exactly be punishment…_I'll just look at his ass the whole time._

He agreed to allow her some time to settle in and scheduled to swing by her place around 6pm so he could show her a nice place to have dinner as well as general sight seeing. Kaoru had spent the whole first day after her arrival lolling around the house after Kenshin had made his offer and left. It seemed strange to be able to just do nothing and have no 'pressing engagements' so to speak. Eating chocolate, reading books and occasionally falling asleep in the sun suited her just fine thank you very much. So by the time Kenshin was meant come around and pick her up the next day, she should have been rested and ready to go. Things however in the world of Kaoru didn't always go as planned…_The best laid plans of mice and men_ grimaced Kaoru as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Her hair was electric blue. How this had happened she wasn't sure but the concept of how to undo the effect was lost on her. There was obviously no way the blueness could be washed out or dimmed…_how had it gotten there anyway?_ Kaoru found the source in an innocently shaped all-in-one shampoo and conditioner bottle which one would normally find in a motel. It wasn't actually blue in colour which is what fooled her. It was a beguilingly normal off white colour and smelt strongly of some mixed floral scent. Kaoru knew that she looked like stupidity personified.

She resigned herself to the fact that the there was no immediate solution to rid herself of the hair colour and decided to cover it somehow…

* * *

When Kenshin did turn up he waited patiently on the porch outside while she collected her purse and keys. Upon sighting her he noticed the scarf which covered her head and the large fly eye sunglasses she sported.

'Uhm Kaoru, why is it that you're wearing-'

'I liked it better when you didn't talk you know?' she snapped 'And what's wrong with wearing a scarf? Grace Kelly did it and so can I' she muttered angrily.

'Won't you get a bit warm with it on?'

'No' she replied curtly 'I thought you were here to show me around not question my fashion sensibilities'

'Of course not…but perhaps you might think about taking the sunglasses off considering it's 6 at night?' he suggested kindly.

In the end she agreed to remove the sunglasses. She figured that he wouldn't be able to see the bluish tinge her skin had taken since the blue dye incident that afternoon. Incidentally Kenshin had asked her a few times if she was feeling well because she seemed a little 'blue' today. It took all of Kaoru's self restraint to contain her temper, even though she knew it wasn't his fault in any way. _Was it?_

'Kenshin. Can I ask you something?' she asked him, interrupting his little speech about little towns, big hearts and something something.

'Uh of course Kaoru wha-'

'Do you keep blue hair colour in your house' she asked sweetly

Clearing his throat, Kenshin had an uncomfortable feeling about where this conversation was heading. He wasn't sure why but a strange feeling was welling in the pit of his stomach and couldn't quite pinpoint why.

'Of the top of my head I could not say if I have or have not expressly or inexplicitly utilised such a product whether it be in my own presence or of an acquaintance of mine who I may know of or know implicitly.' He stated after which he stared at her with an expression of carefully crafted innocence and artlessness. After a moment of staring at his face Kaoru did a mental wiggle and attempted to understand what he'd just said, without looking like she was outwardly confused by his statement.

'So you may or may not have any memory of the blue dye which could have been used by you but may have been used by someone else who you might know but you're not sure?'

'If I agreed to that statement I might be lying, then again I cannot state in all certainty that it is wholly untrue'

'What? Why the hell are you speaking in riddles?'

'I thought you might be impressed by my innate brilliance'

Kaoru just stared at the red head as he peacefully sipped his tea and murmured appreciatively at the lovely aromas swirling out of his cup. Closing her eyes in frustration she stared at the large pepper grinder on the table and contemplated smashing him in the face with it…_must not hit man with pepper grinder, must not_.

Kenshin noticed her intense expression as she stared at the grinder and wondered whether he had managed to wiggle his way out of the predicament which was beginning to look like one of Sano's stupid plans. And even if he did have an explanation how was he supposed to explain it to her? She definitely wouldn't understood and frankly he was confused as to how tricking Kaoru in to dyeing her hair was supposed to help him in any way. _Damn Sano, I'm going to kill him when I get home._ This was either the most brilliant plan yet, or the most stupid thing Sano had ever attempted.

* * *

I haven't updated in forever...sorry ;-)

Tell me what you think!

Cheers,

Iuvenalis


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